That is not me stealing a baby.
It is not me at all. What baby?
Oh, well it depends upon what baby means and what steal means and what being me means.
See, you give up. It was all a vicious conspiracy perpetrated by my enemies (hard as it is to believe I have any).
The Tour is now over. Let me qualify that---this particular road trip is now over. It was a ballistic tour, however the large picture balisticTour continues.
The car held up dandy.
A few things learned, if I can recall them:
DO NOT WALK BARE-FOOTED ON SAND DUNES ON THE OUTER BAQNKS OF NC IN THE SUMMER AT MIDDAY WITH NO CLOUDS IN THE SKY AND THE TEMP 100 OR SO F IN THE SHADE
PEOPLE ON THAT NORTH-SOUTH HIGHWAY BETWEEN PROVO AND SALT LAKE CITY ARE BEYOND INSANE. in some places you chalk up behavior to ignorance, others just a jerk culture, and others, like Miami, to a joyful sort of zany madness(albeit deadly and often accompanied by gunfire).
That part of Utah, and much in the areas above and below those cities, defies any explanation. It is like jihad and the whole lack of reason and rationale that go with it. Those people may all be potential or actual terrorists. I suggest the feds pull out of everywhere else and focus on that highway.
POINTS NORTH OF TAOS ARE COOLER THAN TAOS. ARROYO SECO IS ONE EXAMPLE. hope I got the name right. Oh well, call my complaint department.
PONCA CITY OKLAHOMA IS ONE VERY NICE TOWN
LOYALTON(?), CA IS STRANGE BUT COOL. GREAT PEOPLE. NOT SURE IT WASN'T ALL JUST MY IMAGINATION--the place may not actually exist. one guy pointed out that the staircase I was descending had 13 steps-just like the number of steps to the gallows.
Later he asked if I had any last words I like to say before leaving. He looked like he could have been a ghost; one who wasn't quite sure whether to be sinister or just happily mischievous.
LAKE TAHOE ON THE CALIFORNIA SIDE IS A GREAT AREA. SEVERAL LITTLE TOURIST TOWNS BUT THEY ARE COOL EVEN WHEN CROWDED
IT IS EASIER TO GET CRYSTALS, PAST LIFE READINGS, SPIRITUAL HEALING, MASSAGE AND MEDICINAL CANNABIS IN MT SHASTA THAN IT IS TO GET A REGULAR COCA COLA.
THERE ARE MANY "SAFETY ZONES" AND THEY ANNOUNCE IT TO YOU WHEN YOU ENTER THEM, AND THEY TELL YOU TO DRIVE CAREFULLY OR SAFELY. I HAD NO IDEA HOW DEVIL-MAY-CARE MY DRIVING WAS UNTIL I ENTERED A SAFETY ZONE AND DID AS THE SIGN SAID AND DROVE CAREFULLY. ONCE I BEGAN PAYING ATTENTION I REALIZED I COULD GO MUCH FASTER THAN I WAS WITHOUT GETTING A TICKET. MY CARELESS, UNSAFE WAYS--MAKING COFFEE, BRUSHING MY TEETH, STRETCHING MY LEGS OUT THE WINDOW WHILE TEXTING OR TRIMMING NOSE HAIR, ALL WHILE DRIVING ---WERE COSTING ME TIME.
MY OLD MEMPHIS BAND ROCKS WHEN THEY WANT TO. I THOROUGHLY ENOY JAMMING WITH THEM. BUT WHAT I REALLY LEARNED IS THAT I AM BETTER AND MORE CONFIDENT AS A RESULT OF PLAYING WITH MY HOME GROUP UP HERE ON BALLISTIC MOUNTAIN. EACH GROUP MAKES ME BETTER. I NO LONGER HAVE SOME RESENTMENTS WHICH ONCE I DID. THE SNAKEDOCS OF MEMPHIS REALLY CAUGHT ME BY SURPRISE IN A NUMBER OF WAYS.
I HAVE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES WHO ARE INEXPLICABLY LOYAL AND KIND TO ME BEYOND THE USUAL WHATEVER IT IS I EXPECT.
THAT MAKES ME A VERY LUCKY GUY.
THERE ARE PLACES WHERE PEOPLE CAN AND DO CAMP NAKED.
That's about it for now. I'll add to what I learned as I remember. Oh yea---if you have a bum knee don't try to take a big step up with a canoe on your head. That, and I discovered I like southern Idaho better than northern, and better than most places.
In many ways I can see that my perspective on lots of things has changed over the last three years. And better than that, it has changed some over the past seven weeks.
BOTTOM LINE: Despite my regrets for not having a dozen children or for the many opportunities which fell in my lap only for me to either not see it or simply walk away or get drunk, etc. the truth is that then and now I am constantly getting second chances and good fortune in one way or another. I say second chances but that can include the fiftieth chance.
Anyway, I am very fortunate to be here writing this bit of vanity. I was able to just say screw it and go, and I may be able to cover rent next month. Not only that but most people I visited seemed glad I stopped by. I'm never sure about some people but they may not be sure about me. Take 'em at their word, at face value I guess. I'm positive I am that little baby's favorite whether she knows it or not. The subliminal message was planted. It's a skill I picked up along the way.
